Shoe tree



. M. L. ALGER Oct. 3, 1944,

SHOE TREE Filed A ril'z'r. 194:5

LJ Wnnemor:

I Gttomcga Patented Oct. 3, 1944 SHOE TREE Martin L. Alger, Easton, Mass. assignor to S.

Pierce Company, Brockton, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application April 27, 1943, Serial No. 484,749

2 Claims. (01. 12-1283) The present invention is directed to a shoe tree which can be adjusted to fit into shoes of various sizes and shapes. Shoe trees have been proposed having an adjustable toe part connected to a member adapted to engage the interior of the heel part of a shoe upper and thereby exert a force acting to adjust the toe part and expand the same against the interior of the toe part of the shoe upper. With such shoe trees, the force exerted upon the upper varied with the size and shape of the shoe. Thus, in shoes of the same length but of different widths the force exerted by the shoe tree upon the toe part of the shoe upper was less in the wider shoe than in the narrower shoe and often was excessive in the narrower shoe. In shoes of the same width but of difierent length, the force exerted by the shoe tree upon the shorter shoe was greater than upon the longer shoe and often was excessive in the shorter shoe.

The shoe tree of the present invention overcomes the above mentioned diificulties by the provision of an adjustable toe part and an adjustable heel part which are connected so that the adjustment of one can be controlled manually to control the adjustment of the other and thereby control the force exerted by the shoe tree upon the shoe upper.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing: in which,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a shoe tree embodying the invention, partly broken away and partly in section; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, partly in section.

The shoe tree illustrated in the accompanying drawing comprises a toe part of wood split longitudinally to provide two toe part portions I and H adapted to engage the interior of the toe part of the upper of a shoe S. The portion I0 is provided with passages l2 and I3 having shoulders I4 and I5 respectively. The portions l 0 and I l are connected to permit relative lateral movement by screws I6 and I! passing through the passages l2 and I3 respectively and secured in the portion II, the heads of the screws being adapted to engage the shoulders l4 and I5 to limit the extent of relative movement laterally of the portions I 0 and H. The portions I0 and H are provided with opposed cam surfaces l9 and 20 respectively, which incline away from one another and are adapted to be engaged by the forward end of a longitudinally movable memher 3 of wood. The member I8 projects into the space between the cam surfaces l9 and 20 and is provided with a longitudinal slot 2! through which the screw ll passes thereby permitting the member 18 to pivot and be moved longitudinally relative to the toe part of the shoe tree. A heel part 23, preferably formed of laminated sheetsof wood, is an elongated flat member having its edge curved so that one end has substantially the form of an arc of a circle and gradually curving to a pointed opposite end 26 which serves as a lever arm for manually adjusting the heel part. The edge curvature of the heel part 23 provides an operative cam surface extending substantially from a to b. The heel part 23 is positioned in a slot 2G in the rear end of the member I8 and is pivotally mounted upon a rod or nail 25 so as to project rearwardly from the member l8 to engage the interior of the heel part of the upper of the shoe S.

The shoe tree is inserted in the shoe S with the portions l0 and ll of the toe part contracted as shown in Fig. 2 and with the heel part 23 in the dot-and-dash line position shown in Fig. 1 Testing upon the sole of the shoe. The position of the shoe tree then is adjusted by manually rotating the heel part 23 toward its full line position shown in Fig. 1 until the shoe tree exerts a desired force upon the interior of the shoe upper. As the heel part is adjusted, the cam surface a, b engaging the interior of the heel of the shoe upper causes the member l8 to move forward. As the member l8 moves forward its front end engages the cam surfaces l9 and 2&1 to move the portions l0 and II of the toe part away from one another and in engagement with the interior of the toe part of the shoe upper. It will be noted that the manual control of the adjustment of the heel part 23 controls the adjustment of the toe part and, consequently, controls the pressure exerted by the shoe tree upon the shoe upper. As the heel part is adjusted as above described and adjacent points along the cam surface a, b are brought in engagement with the interior of heel part of the shoe upper, the member 18 is caused to pivot about the screw I! in a clockwise direction thus lowering the axis about which the heel part rotates. Consequently, the point of engagement between the heel part 23 and the interior of the heel part of the shoe upper always is higher than the pivotal axis of the heel part 23 thereby assuring that the shoe tree is maintained in its desired position within the shoe.

I claim:

1. A shoe tree comprising a toe part split longitudinally to provide two toe part portions, a longitudinally extending member having its forward end positioned between said portions, means for connecting said member and said portions together to permit said portions to move laterally relative to one another and permit said member to pivot and move longitudinally relative to said toe part, the adjacent surfaces of said portions and said member being shaped so that said portions move laterally away from one another when said member is moved forward, and a heel part adjustably carried by said member and adapted to engage the interior of the heel part of the upper of a shoe whereby the relative positions of said portions is controlled by controlling the adjustment of said heel part when the shoe tree is positioned in a shoe.

2. A shoe tree comprising a toe part split longitudinally to provide two toe part portions, a longitudinally extending member having its forward end positioned between said portions, means for connecting said member and said portions together to permit said portions to move laterally relative to one another and permit said member to pivot and move longitudinally relative to said toe part, the adjacent surfaces of said portions and said member being shaped so that said portions move laterally away from one another when said member is moved forward, and a heel part pivotally carried by said member and having a cam surface projecting rearward therefrom whereby the relative positions of said portions is controlled by adjusting the position of said heel part when the shoe tree is positioned in a shoe.

MARTIN L. ALGER. 

